The avatar, or avi, which was presented without any context by Foster, is the first three paragraphs of Shaughnessy's column that ran Sunday and reads:

"The 2012-13 New England Patriots just became the first team in NFL history to get back-to-back byes before advancing to the conference championship game.

"Could this get any easier?

"I mean, seriously? The planets are aligned and the tomato cans are in place. The fraudulent Houston Texans are the only team standing between the New England Patriots and a trip to the AFC Championship game. All the Patriots have to do is beat the terrible Texans. One week from Sunday. At Gillette Stadium."

The Texans and Patriots previously met in Week 14 with the Pats romping to a 42-14 home victory on ESPN's Monday Night Football. The game had been billed as a clash of AFC titans as both were division leaders, with the Texans then sporting an 11-1 record.

In that meeting, Foster was held to just 46 rushing yards and one second-half touchdown.

The second meeting between the two teams will be on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. with a trip to the AFC Championship Game on the line. The Texans defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 19-13 on Saturday to set up the rematch.

Houston had been in the driver's seat for a first-round bye before losing its final two games which allowed the Patriots to earn one of the AFC's top two playoff seeds and relegated the Texans to wild-card weekend.